'Eddie-father': Afghan refugee Mitrashiva Husseini finally reaches safety in Tamworth

Sponsor Eddie Whitham said she was the first Afghan refugee to settle in rural NSW, at his house.

Ms Husseini spent three days in a Kabul refugee camp that was later suicide bombed, days stuck in Dubai airport, two weeks in hotel quarantine then weeks more in immigration custody.

But a fortnight ago, at last, she arrived in Tamworth.

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"I am very sure now that my future belongs to Australia," she said.

"Australia has given me a new life. I'm alive again!"

Ms Husseini's dad was murdered by the Taliban and her mum is also dead.

She calls Mr Whitham "Eddie-father".

Without his help, she'd probably still be in Afghanistan, where she is still on the Taliban hit-list.

"He is doing this all help so passionately," he said.

"Day and night now he's calling and doing all the paperwork. I don't think anyone else would do such like him...

"I just feel like he is the only one ... he spends most of his time doing for the people to make them happy."

Mr Whitham told the Leader he'd spent six years trying to get Ms Husseini out of the country, after they met by chance in Dubai airport for three hours, both waiting for flights.

"We've brought people out of Syria years ago, out of India, out of Iraq," he said.

"They've written me letters and we just helped them. I've been doing it all my life."

The generosity hasn't been limited just to the Whitham household.

Ms Husseini left behind almost every possession she had in Afghanistan.

She went to a local op shop looking for some clothes, only to be told she could have as much as she liked, for free.

In the long run, she hopes to be able to become a permanent Australian resident and sponsor the rest of her family to get to safety.

But she's set her ambitions even higher.

"For the far future, I'm a political person, so I want to be in politics here in Australia," she said.

"Once you get the citizenship, then you are an Aussie."

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A member of Afghanistan's Hazara minority group, Ms Husseini was doubly a Taliban target, because she also volunteered as a women's rights advocate. The former United Nations' employee still provides volunteer labour for the organisation.

A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs clarified that any non-Australian migrant who had been evacuated from Afghanistan had been granted a Humanitarian Stay Visa (449), rather than a Temporary Protection Visa (785).

The 449 visa holders are entitled to apply for a permanent visa, have access to settlement support, and are eligible for Medicare and other government benefits that 785 visa holders are not entitled to.

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